PEACE AND GOODWILL: GIVE THE TURKEY A MISS
Interview by Claudette Vaughan

Farm Animal Welfare Network (FAWN) formerly Chicken’ Lib has produced a new report on today’s intensive turkey industry. This report takes the person right into the dark turkey sheds and shines a light on the appalling conditions under which intensive turkeys are raised. It also highlights the lack of any effective legislation to protect turkeys. The Abolitionist spoke recently with Clare Druce who heads FAWN.

We know from video evidence (footage taken by animal activists entering the turkey sheds without the knowledge of the owners) that turkeys are often injured, sick and left to die, unnoticed by any stockperson. Over the years, there’s evidence of dead turkeys remaining on the shed floor for some days, pecked at by others. Turkeys respond very badly to overcrowding. In their frustration and boredom, they display aggression, often attacking heads and eyes of fellow birds.   Any farms boasting high standards (e.g. as on farms operating under the “Freedom Food” scheme in the UK) should automatically have CCTV cameras installed, with the understanding that tapes be made available to monitoring bodies.

Cameras should be mandatory on all turkey farms and always operational at the time of catching, so standards can be checked on by an appropriate body. There have been recent incidents in the UK, unofficially recorded on video camera, when catchers have been seen to kick turkeys and play “games” with them, batting terrified birds into the air with sticks.

These incidents were especially disturbing, since they implied that such behaviour is commonplace. Other workers present showed no inclination to stop the abuse, nor did they appear shocked. The fact that this cruelty was repeated within the same company not long after the first offence increased our concern.

Catchers work at speed and in difficult conditions, and over a campaign spanning four decades, FAWN has never felt reassured that catchers show concern for the live birds. Knowing that CCTV cameras were operating would improve the situation, assuming an understanding that the footage would be viewed by an authority outside the company.

What legislation is in place for the factory-farmed turkey in the UK?

There is to date no specific legislation to protect turkeys, as exists for some farmed animals (see The Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007) butprosecutions can be mounted using the Animal Welfare Act 2006, in which it’s clearly stated that causing an animal to suffer constitutes an offence.

However, previous legislation has included clauses that could have been used to the animals’ advantage in a court of law, yet, for whatever reasons, very few prosecutions have been mounted based on the unacceptable and cruel conditions inside intensive farms. I was an expert witness on poultry (laying hens and broiler chickens) in the famous McDonald/McLibel case back in the mid-1990s. Mr Justice Bell found the conditions for broilers, broiler breeders and caged hens, as  described to him, as cruel and unacceptable. FAWN firmly believes that were an organisation such as the RSPCA to prosecute a farmer and win the case based on the claim that system per se is cruel; the benefits for animals would be incalculable.  

How many breeding birds are there in the UK?

In the UK around a quarter of a million parent stock were kept, to “parent” the national flock of 17 millions birds (The UK Turkey and Geese Production Industry: a Short Study, Defra 2007
 
How do the breeders live?
 
Since natural mating is now impossible (relentless genetic selection for “meatiness” over the last few decades has resulted in male turkeys no longer able to mount the females) the sexes are kept separately, and subjected to certain indignity and probable pain and injury, when semen is taken from the males and later inseminated into the females’ vaginas. The “stroking” (a technical term!) of the males genitalia by AI operators can best be described as human to bird masturbation.

The taking and inseminating of semen is repeated regularly for around a year, two or three times a week, once birds reach sexual maturity. After this, their most profitable period, they are slaughtered and go into the food chain. The stress caused to the birds when catching and “treating” them is easy to imagine. Official advice (e.g.  to carry out the process “in the cool of the day” (1) indicates the level of stress involved.
As well as the “working breeders” there is the elite stock, from which the working breeders are initially bred. These birds are extremely valuable, and may be kept for longer, subjected to laboratory-style “living”.

The commercial turkey breeding world is a very secretive one, and it’s not easy to gather information. I suggest that efforts are made worldwide to look closely into this sick industry. Many years ago, we published a heart-breaking photograph of a male breeder. Remembering the fleet and elegant wild turkey, the gross changes brought about by genetic selection are shocking indeed. This poor bird’s breast is so huge he must straddle them wide apart, he’s severely debeaked, and gasping for breath. The modern turkey, especially the male, is most certainly clinically obese.

Feed restriction is practised in the turkey industry, resulting in unnatural behaviour (e.g. a high incidence of wall pecking) (2), pointing to further cruelty. This echoes the nightmare world of the broiler chicken – parent stock kept hungry simply because they share the genetic make up of their parents, many of whom, if fed to appetite, would develop diseases of obesity, often failing to reach sexual maturity.
Breeding birds are debeaked, since (unlike the millions bred for meat) they’re kept in bright light, and the fact that they can see each other clearly encourages damaging aggression.

What did your report find with reference to overcrowding conditions?

Turkeys would naturally live in small groups, with wide open spaces all around. They’d be free to fly among the tree tops.  Forcing them to live together in vast numbers promotes aggression (25,000 to a shed is regarded an average figure on large UK farms) and leads to the practice of dimming the lights. Lighting of 5 lux has been quoted as usual (twilight is over 10 lux, and bright sunlight over one thousand lux).

Add to this the fact that in intensive sheds the litter is never renewed during the rearing cycle of several weeks. Faeces build up, until by the end of their short lives around 80% of what’s on the shed floor will be composed of faeces. If conditions have been less than “perfect” this litter/faeces mix may be damp, leaving the birds filthy and liable to respiratory disease. “Diseases of intensification” often lead to the reckless use of antibiotics, resulting in antibiotic-resistance in the bugs themselves. This wide on-farm antibiotic use is causing serious problems in human medicine, since many of the drugs used on farms are the same as, or related to, those used in human medicine.

And the insemination of the females?

The bird’s feet are grasped and held in a firm grip. Clearly, these strong but sensitive birds are highly stressed at this time, and any struggling is restrained none too gently. The female bird is held between the AI operator’s knees while the oviduct is everted by pressure (a procedure known as “cracking”) after which the semen is inserted into her vagina, blown in through a tube by another operator. Should the bird be what’s described as “tight”, that is immature, perhaps with an intact hymen, damage to the oviduct may result. The oviduct is curved, and should the procedure be inaccurately carried out, damage can result in peritonitis or infertility.

Does beak trimming cause chronic pain?

In the 1980s, thorough research carried out on chickens at Roslin in Scotland indicated that partial beak amputation (PBA) causes long-term pain in the birds, similar to phantom limb pain in human amputees. (3) Chickens’ Lib/FAWN publicised these findings widely. Great was the surprise when subsequent research, in published in the mid-1990s, and involving some of the same scientists, concluded that this was not the case in turkeys. The later research (carried out by at least one of the original scientists) was funded by the Research and Development Committee of the British Turkey Federation, with support from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF, now known as DEFRA).

FAWN assumes that all birds’ beaks are similar, in that they serve as an important sensory organ, and remains convinced that PBA is abusive.

Name some of the diseases common among breeding turkeys Clare.

The valuable breeding stock are kept at a more “generous” stocking density, and in generally more hygienic conditions than those destined for meat, So many of the diseases suffered by the more expendable birds will not apply. But there’s a wealth of research indicating that health problems plague breeding turkeys. Degeneration of the hip joint in male breeders is common, leading to chronic lameness, and involving severe pain. (4) The condition accounts for high mortality. AS far as FAWN is aware, little research has been conducted in recent years into the problem, which is unlikely to be resolved, given the continuing drive towards heavy birds. I do hope that activists in your country are keeping an eye on this dreadful scene – I mean the whole business of commercial turkey farming, from start to finish - and can grab the attention of the media.

What are your views on the vegan lifestyle?

I’ve been vegetarian for over forty years, and almost vegan for around 25 years. For a long time, I’d veered towards vegetarianism, and I remember exactly when I finally made up my mind. It was Christmas, and my first-born was six months old. As I slid the large turkey, pink and plump, into the oven, I was horrified by the thought that it looked much the same size as my daughter, and much the same colour too. That ended my days of meat eating. Then, years later, and influenced by a vegan friend, I finally gave up all animal products. 

For a while (so only partially vegan) I continued to eat the eggs laid by rescued chickens – what could be wrong with that? Well, nothing, in effect, for they laid relentlessly, owing to their genetic background. There was no stopping them. But, when writing my book “Chicken and Egg: Who Pays the Price?” (1989) I found out many worrying things about the health of these abused birds. That was when I decided to go 100% vegan. It’s certainly good to eat a meal knowing that your food is distanced from the vile world of animal exploitation. And we try to eat organic and Fair Trade too, whenever possible.

What have been some direct personal experiences with turkeys?

One day back in the 1990s Irene Williams (my right hand woman for many years in the campaign) and I travelled to an infamous agricultural auction/market, intent on buying battery hens. For some reason there weren’t any to be had, but we spotted several cages of pathetic, filthy turkeys. We bid for four birds, two of each sex, and somehow got them home. One had to be put down by a vet, without delay, he was so sick, but the remaining two lived in my little orchard for some years.

The male (stag) we called Boyo, and he was a great character, as was Marilyn, so called because of her star quality. They became very tame, and Boyo’s voice would resound across our little valley, sometimes to my embarrassment. A near neighbour would sometimes call out crossly to her children, whereupon Boyo would respond with a loud gobble.

Poor Boyo, his sexual urges remained intact, yet he could never fulfil them, despite the companionship of his two ladies. His colourful snood would change colour, and he’d fluff up his feathers, becoming magnificent indeed. But the sad fact was he could scarcely get his feet off the ground, let alone mount a female. A piece of wood, perhaps 5cms (2 inches) high, placed between the straw yard and the orchard, proved an impossible obstacle for Boyo, and had to be removed. Our Boyo could only shuffle along, distorted through generations of genetic selection for “meatiness”, seeming almost a different species from those wild turkeys, still able to fly of speeds of up to 50 mph.

I think, despite his frustrations, Boyo had a happy life amongst our ex-battery hens, the broilers and his two turkey companions, and I sensed an affectionate nature there. He’d never fail to plod up to me, by way of greeting. And his eyes were so expressive and thoughtful. Or so it seemed to me.
 One sad morning I found him dead, doubtless the victim of a heart attack brought on by obesity. Within his severe limits, Boyo led a good life with us, with no obvious signs of illness. It was a comfort to know he’d not suffered.

Once again, our campaign benefited from first hand knowledge. There really is nothing like it, for getting to understand the issues.

PS A charming photograph once appeared in the Yorkshire Post (YP 14 5 1992). A female turkey, Teresa, had been given some ducklings to care for. She’s shown looking greatly concerned, poised at the edge of a pond. The ducklings have taken to the water, but she’s not a swimmer. According to the story, she waded in up to her feathers, then could go no further, so retreated to the safety of the bank, calling the ducklings back to her.

The findings on transportation of turkeys?

 When placed (often flung) into crates, turkeys may suffer broken limbs, as they’re stuffed in, at high speed. Even the more modern modules (stacks of drawers to contain the birds) hold dangers. If shut carelessly, limbs or heads may become trapped.

Journeys to slaughter can be long, with birds exposed to freezing or hot temperatures. According to recent information published in Poultry World, the UK trend is now towards gassing birds, rather than the conventional electrical water bath method. This has to be good, since it represents one fewer trauma for the birds, that of being dragged out of the crates or modules, and hung in shackles, now accepted as causing pain and suffering.

And solutions?

To lessen the suffering of turkeys, it’s vital to alert the media to the grim scene.
Turkey meat has joined the ranks of junk food, along with chicken. Free range and organic production methods are clearly better, but in general turkeys reared for meat come from the same old breeding stock, with all the cruelty of artificial insemination, feed restriction, diseased hips in the males and so on.

On an individual basis, the quickest and surest solution is to resolve never to eat turkey again, while at the same time doing something to make sure the public knows just what goes on behind the scenes, in the dark world of intensive turkey production.

References:

1. MAFF/ADAS Reference Book 242, p 34, Crown copyright 1983
2. Welfare of food restricted male and female turkeys, Hocking, Maxwell and Mitchell, Roslin Institute, Edinburgh, Scotland, British Poultry Science, (1999) 40: 19-293.
3. Behavioural evidence for persistent pain following partial beak amputation in chickens, Applied Animal Science, 27: 149-157
4. Assessment of pain associated with degenerative hip disorders in adult male turkeys, research in veterinary science, 50: 200-203

Clare’s written a very readable childrens’ book on hens called Minny’s Dream.  Visit:  www.lulu.com

Clare Druce can be contacted:  fawn@gn.apc.org